Why is there still so much to do at end game?

[Blarp]

It's called Final Fantasy 14 : A Realm Reborn

not

Final Fantasy 14 : A Raid Reborn.

Honestly, I have to say that anyone who thought that a FF MMORPG would be primarily about the raiding must have misunderstood Final Fantasy.

Please enlighten us what the game is about then.

[Sayura_]

Please enlighten us what the game is about then.

Apparently it's about exploring every inch of Erozea then going back to your inn room to document your amazing adventures in your diary before logging out after 2 hours so as to not "rush" content.

[amnie]

Please enlighten us what the game is about then.

it's about what you make it about, would be my guess. what are the single player games about? is all you remember from VII the last fight, or is it maaaaybe more that quite emotional scene somewhere in the middle? do you remember the gold saucer? did you have fun running around for hours trying to find a way to raise a golden chocobo? did you spend hours getting the right materia?
I sure did.

(and don't even let me get started on VIII and ultima weapon, or the islands of heaven and hell...)

[Blarp]

it's about what you make it about, would be my guess. what are the single player games about? is all you remember from VII the last fight, or is it maaaaybe more that quite emotional scene somewhere in the middle? do you remember the gold saucer? did you have fun running around for hours trying to find a way to raise a golden chocobo? did you spend hours getting the right materia?
I sure did.

It's about the same thing every RPG is about; character development, storyline, and exploration. In an MMO, exploration and storyline are finite and they have the unfortunate tendency to end which leaves you paying a monthly fee for character progression and socialization. Once you are done with initial vertical progression (leveling) you are left to develop your character in other ways. The way that is accomplished in MMO's is to make gear with bigger stats which you acquire via killing bosses in raids. So, when a poster claims that an MMO of this type is a special snowflake and that endgame isn't about raiding, I have to ask what it is about. It can't be about what you make of it (at endgame) because the developers have designed the game in such a way that there are a very limited number of ways to progress your character at endgame. This isn't unique to FFXIV, but it's foolish to try and pretend that this game is about anything other than raiding at endgame because there is very little to do otherwise.

[amnie]

It's about the same thing every RPG is about; character development, storyline, and exploration. In an MMO, exploration and storyline are finite and they have the unfortunate tendency to end which leaves you paying a monthly fee for character progression and socialization. Once you are done with initial vertical progression (leveling) you are left to develop your character in other ways. The way that is accomplished in MMO's is to make gear with bigger stats which you acquire via killing bosses in raids. So, when a poster claims that an MMO of this type is a special snowflake and that endgame isn't about raiding, I have to ask what it is about. It can't be about what you make of it (at endgame) because the developers have designed the game in such a way that there are a very limited number of ways to progress your character at endgame. This isn't unique to FFXIV, but it's foolish to try and pretend that this game is about anything other than raiding at endgame because there is very little to do otherwise.

please do me a favour and don't assume this is the first MMO I'm playing - or the first time I'm discussing this. it's been happening for the last 10 years now and frankly it's about as tiresome as grinding the same dungeon over and over and over and over. (which is why I engage in other online activity besides arguing about stupid things)

again... there is little YOU LIKE. that doesn't mean there is little. just because YOU definte 'endgame' as 'horizontal gear progression' doesn't mean that is what everyone's end goal is.

btw: I'm a heavy raider. I enjoy raiding immensely.

however, I am also a dedicated crafter, a gear hoarder, a pet collector, an achievement hunter, an explorer, a helper, a derper, a goofer, a chatter, a dancer, an emote-spammer, an alt-o-holic, a spreadsheet creator, an AH-analyser, an 'usual group settings' experimenter, a reputation farmer...

[Kosmos992k]

Please enlighten us what the game is about then.

It's about everything you can do in Eorzea, it's about fishing, it's about crafting, gathering , playing with other classes/jobs, making a company house, building a Free Company, helping friends, finding stuff you didn't find before, crafting the best possible gear, making new friends, playing with old friends, random acts of kindness such as raising someone you find laying on the ground as others rush past, making a new player an HQ set of armor, just because you can, furnishing your company house, hanging with friends, chocobo farming (if and when it arrives), collecting all the best armor pieces (yes, be a completionist you JRPG fans), etc...

You see to me, you and players like you seem awfully limited in your horizons, all you see is end-game raiding, nothing else. Frankly I find the whole mindset of the end-game raiders I have run into in-game to be pretty annoying. Min/max, efficiency, speed run, gear check, must have experience, relic +1 or go home, etc... There are a ton of words that can be used to describe those attitudes, but that's not the point, the point is that the laser like narrow focus on raiding leaves almost no room to enjoy yourself in this game. No mater how much end-game content is added at each patch, you've all proven that you will complete it in record time, analyze the new content, grind out the best gear set, and speed run it with ruthless efficiency until all the joy and pleasure has been squeezed out of it by the speed run grind.

Then there will be another cycle of whining that you're bored, the game is too easy, and there is nothing to do, followed by the usual threats to leave. Someone like me will post as I have done and someone like you will ask what the game is about if not raiding, and so the cycle will perpetuate itself.

[BobtheBlackMage]

It's about everything you can do in Eorzea, it's about fishing, it's about crafting, gathering , playing with other classes/jobs, making a company house, building a Free Company, helping friends, finding stuff you didn't find before, crafting the best possible gear, making new friends, playing with old friends, random acts of kindness such as raising someone you find laying on the ground as others rush past, making a new player an HQ set of armor, just because you can, furnishing your company house, hanging with friends, chocobo farming (if and when it arrives), collecting all the best armor pieces (yes, be a completionist you JRPG fans), etc...

You see to me, you and players like you seem awfully limited in your horizons, all you see is end-game raiding, nothing else. Frankly I find the whole mindset of the end-game raiders I have run into in-game to be pretty annoying. Min/max, efficiency, speed run, gear check, must have experience, relic +1 or go home, etc... There are a ton of words that can be used to describe those attitudes, but that's not the point, the point is that the laser like narrow focus on raiding leaves almost no room to enjoy yourself in this game. No mater how much end-game content is added at each patch, you've all proven that you will complete it in record time, analyze the new content, grind out the best gear set, and speed run it with ruthless efficiency until all the joy and pleasure has been squeezed out of it by the speed run grind.

Then there will be another cycle of whining that you're bored, the game is too easy, and there is nothing to do, followed by the usual threats to leave. Someone like me will post as I have done and someone like you will ask what the game is about if not raiding, and so the cycle will perpetuate itself.

I can't like this hard enough.

Raiding is not the only end-game.